Talk:Titus Minucius Basilus
I notice somebody swears by Jupiter. If there are a number of such references, perhaps an article is in order. TR 17:13, May 12, 2010 (UTC) :Or a new section of Zeus. Turtle Fan 17:33, May 12, 2010 (UTC) ::That might work, too. We do have Victoria (Goddess) apart from Nike (or will, when I get around to writing the Nike article), but that was because they were described and portrayed as separate individuals in "Miss Manners' Guide to Greek Missology". While there were differences between Zeus and Jupiter, they are close enough for our purposes. :::I think a more applicable precedent might be Poseidon, to whom King Neptune redirects. ::::I'd forgotten about that. TR 20:36, May 12, 2010 (UTC) :::::Actually it redirects to the 191 section of Poseidon. If we ever come across other refereces to Neptune worth writing about, we may have to change that. Turtle Fan 21:05, May 12, 2010 (UTC) ::Then again, no harm in having another article. TR 19:42, May 12, 2010 (UTC) :::No, no harm, but it does remind me a lot of when we had Greater German Reich. It was no more different from Germany than Jupiter was from Zeus. Turtle Fan 19:57, May 12, 2010 (UTC) ::::Yes, I suppose redundancy is a solid counter-argument. TR 20:36, May 12, 2010 (UTC) :::::Also, redundancy is a solid counter-argument. Turtle Fan 21:05, May 12, 2010 (UTC) I put that in straight from the book to show he was a polytheist (then forgot to put in the category). A number of Romans swear by their various gods (including "by Venus' pretty pink nipples") so an article on Roman gods in general might be appropriate. Incidentally, do I mark all the Romans as polytheist or only those who explicitly display the fact? ML4E 22:05, May 13, 2010 (UTC) :At that time and place, you are probably safe to call all Romans polytheist. TR 22:15, May 13, 2010 (UTC) ::Polytheist in that they are unlikely to be monotheist, perhaps; but is there any point to classifying by religion characters who show no evidence of having any religion at all? Putting people into the category based on the fact that they swear by the gods is already a little dodgy; the expression "By Jove!" has only recently dropped out of the vernacular, and many's the non-Christian who invokes Christ for emphasis. Turtle Fan 22:22, May 13, 2010 (UTC) :We've always confined Polytheists to those who explicitly invoke their pantheons onstage. I for one am none too fond of the idea of assigning religion where there is no evidence of religious practice or belief. Turtle Fan 22:22, May 13, 2010 (UTC) ::That was the nature of the question I was asking. Sorry its not clear. My inclination is to leave religious affiliation out unless there is an explicit mention. By God, I also see the point TF is making too ;-p ML4E 22:42, May 13, 2010 (UTC) :::I shall abide by the majority. TR 22:47, May 13, 2010 (UTC) ::::So inspiring to watch our system work. Turtle Fan 01:06, May 14, 2010 (UTC) I'm also wondering whether we should start subdividing Polytheists. Considering how much precision we have among the Christian categories, it feels somehow wrong to have such a wide assortment under one tent. Worshippers of the Olympians would easily be viable, but beyond that, I fear it wouldn't be much of a cross-reference (umm, no pun intended). Detinans would just be a subset, and a near-duplication, of Worshippers of the Detinan Gods, for example. :The category may be big enough now to consider sub-cats. ML4E 22:42, May 13, 2010 (UTC) ::And then some. I'd agree we split. TR 22:47, May 13, 2010 (UTC) :::Anyone other than Olympians? I'd like something more cross-reference-y than Detinans worshipping Detinan gods, et cetera. Even if it were only us coming up with more original descriptions. But we can start with Olympians now. :::While we're on the subject, should we subdivide Gods? I don't see too much in the way of possible divisions, except perhaps by story. Turtle Fan 01:06, May 14, 2010 (UTC) Also, HT's polytheists (though I guess they're more henotheist) acknowledge or treat with just about every god they're aware of. So the Detinans would, perhaps not worship, but at least take seriously, the Elabonian gods, and vice versa, were the two universes to come into contact. Turtle Fan 22:22, May 13, 2010 (UTC)